U.S. diplomat in Pakistan may face murder charges

(01-29) 04:00 PST Islamabad - --

Pakistani authorities have arrested a U.S. Consulate employee who shot and killed two men he thought were going to rob him in the eastern city of Lahore, and say they will pursue murder charges against him in a case likely to inflame anti-American sentiments in the nuclear-armed state.

Police took the man to court Friday, where a judge ordered that he be held in custody for an additional six days while investigators continue to probe the case. Police have identified him as Raymond Davis and said he works as a technical adviser in the Lahore consulate, but U.S. Embassy officials in Islamabad would not confirm his identity and declined to discuss the case.

The employee has told police he was in his car and fired at the two men in self-defense Thursday after they approached on a motorcycle and pointed a handgun at him. Relatives of one of the dead men say the men were armed with pistols for their own protection, and that the consulate employee, an American citizen, was unjustified in firing at them.

After the employee called the consulate to report the shooting, a second car, a Land Cruiser, was sent to the scene. According to police, the driver of the Land Cruiser drove the wrong way down a one-way street and ran over a motorcyclist, killing him.

The issue of American diplomats and security officials traveling through the country while carrying firearms is extremely sensitive in Pakistan. In 2009, Pakistani newspapers carried reports of U.S. diplomats in the northwest city of Peshawar carrying assault rifles while traveling through the city. Those reports were never verified.

This article appeared on page A - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle